This weblog was created to act as a platform for the voice of secular pro-democracy activists in and outside Iran who are struggling against the religious dictatorship of the Islamic clerics in Iran.
My favourite quote:
"Evil only prevails when the good stay silent"

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Iran's Interior Minister, Ali Kordan, finally admitted that his Oxford PHD was a fake. This time changing his tune by saying that it was arranged through an intermediary whom, conveniently, can not be traced.

Ever since I was a kid, I recognised the fraudulent nature of those who run organised religion Inc. and anyone who wears his piety on his sleeve, always immediately arouses my suspicion. Iranian poet, Hafez, summed up these self proclaimed guardians of faith, seven hundreds years ago, in his famous verse,'The pious who display these pious gestures in publicOnce in their own privacy, do what they preach others not to'

During the 1979 Islamic revolution, this mistrust of clerics was always my main argument with friends and family members who had been mesmerised by the promises of the devout pretenders.Even Jack Straw who used to champion 'critical dialogue' with the mullahs and was often photographed grotesquely schmoozing the Islamic Republic negotiators finally came to realise that dealing with 'these people' is like 'bartering in a bazaar, you think you buy a table and the table arrives with no legs.'.

Yet this trait of lying through your teeth is not confined to the Iranian clerics, I have found this common addiction amongst all worshippers of totalitarian ideologies.

The elder Iranian Communist leaders for example, brain washed the best youngsters of my generation, telling them about this utopia of Socialist paradise beyond the borders. Many of my own friends, back in Iran, fell for all these lies. They were led to believe that places like the Soviet Union, Anvar Xoje's Albania and North Korea were havens of harmony and prosperity. Those who injected them with such lies, had themselves spent many miserable years of exile in the Soviet bloc countries. They knew the truth and yet they chose to lie and brainwash another generation of young Iranians; and when these innocent youngsters and teenagers fell one by one in front of the Islamist firing squads, there was no international Socialism that came to their help. The Utopian Socialist camp turned a blind eye and put trade with the mullahs as the most urgent need of the 'proletariat', which to them was synonymous with the Politburo.

The Nazis of course had their infamous Joseph Goebbels who like Stalin, first trained to be a priest, and later became the chief of National Socialist propaganda war machine . There is this connection between these similar devotees of totalitarianism, first they have to lie to themselves, and once they convince themselves, it then becomes natural for them to lie to the others. Many of them change from one cult to another, Socialist Mussolini becomes a Fascist and seminary students become Communists and so on.

Only over the last few days, I have experienced first hand, how these pathological liars, can't just accept that you disagree with them, they have to make up lies about you.

Take this snotty Leninist oink, David Broder, another self proclaimed leader of the proletariat, an unnoticeable pathetic creature, who used the Al-Quds counter-demo to flog his rag and train as a paparazzi. He made no effort to come over and talk to us, or to find out what we believe in or why we were there. Instead the "self-important, privileged tosser", as described to me by someone who knows him well, wanted to defame us with his little Socialist vanguard fantasies.David Broder's cowardice was not limited to his sheepish appearance on the Al-Quds day however, this commissar pretender doesn't even allow comments to be published on his blog. Like a true Glavlit employee, he censors and deletes comments which do not fall within the framework of his totalitarian warped mindset.

One comment which was left untouched on his blog, by an admirer or more likely himself, suggested that shouting 'terrorist bombers off our street' was a racist remark as it implicated brown skinned people! How much more racist can you get? To suggest that terrorist bombers are all brown skinned! Pathetic little oinks.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

It was a much bigger turn out this year with many more English groups and individuals who had joined our ranks to oppose the march by the supporters of the Islamic Republic in the streets of London. The core Iranian groups consisted of the Alliance of Iranian Students, the Confederation of Iranian Students and other secular pro-democracy Iranian individuals, as well as some supporters of the jailed dissident cleric, Ayatollah Boroujerdi. We wanted to highlight the human rights abuses by the Islamic Republic in the last 28 years, we wanted to show the poverty, the destitute and the misery brought upon the people of Iran by the religious dictatorship ruling Iran. We wanted to tell the Palestinian people and the Lebanese people not to be fooled by this Islamic Republic propaganda stunt, for the mullahs have brought no peace and prosperity for our people and they will bring no peace and prosperity for any other people.Together we held the middle section of the counter demo. Further to the Left, there were few from the Iranian Worker's Communist Party, Worker's Liberty and members of the Principa Dialectica. Members of Principa Dialectica have always impressed me with their knowledge of Iran, and they are one of the few UK based Left wing groups who have not gone to bed with the Islamists.

To our right were the SIOE and March for England supporters. I had received many warnings that the later were a right wing Nazi group, but I could find nothing on their website that remotely suggested this, and in fact they go out of their way to distance themselves from any racist association. Nevertheless I had my anxieties about two things, a confrontation between the different groups in the counter demo and any indication of racism which would have tarnished our aims and objectives and benefited the Islamic Republic supporters. As it turned out, none of this took place. The March for England supporters assured me they will not tolerate any racism amongst their ranks and even suggested to me that if we think their presence will in any way damage us, they are happy to go away. I asked them to stay and we all agreed to have our own distinct positions behind the railings.

Altogether we waited for over two hours for the Al-Quds marchers to arrive, and to make sure everyone's spirits were kept high, we sang the Ey-Iran anthem as loud as we could several times and I did an off the cuff pep talk, something along these lines, if my memory serves right, "When you see pictures of Iranian women, being harassed by the morality police in Iran, for showing a couple of strands of their hair, when you see our people humiliated and downtrodden, when you see our country's enormous wealth is wasted away and the Iranian children having to work instead of enjoying their childhood, when you see the scale of corruption amongst those who currently rule our country, when you see the leaders of the Islamic Republic lie through their teeth and when you see a non-Iranian flag instead of our Sun and Lion waved in our country, your blood boils and you think what can we do? Today is a day when you can do something, today is when you see the enemy not in pictures but physically in front of you, today you can tell the world that these people do not represent the Iranian people, and where is the old Iranian opposition that you see every day on our Iranian media? Where are these one man parties that the Iranian media present to our people as their opposition? Why are none of them here? If they are not here today, they are no opposition, If they are not here today in the streets of London to confront the mullahs, how can they motivate those inside Iran to rise against the religious dictatorship? Iran belongs to you, the youth of Iran, for the old generation are a lost lot who were fooled by the mullahs and got us in this mess, they are a failure, why should you follow failure, forget those dinosaurs. You are the Iranian opposition today'

Finally the Al-Quds marchers arrived. There were some notable differences from last year. There were definitely even fewer Iranians amongst their ranks, I could only spot a couple of placards with pictures of IRI leaders, and only a few Islamic Republic flags. As they went past us we held up our placards which displayed images of human rights abuses, mass arrests, public executions and widespread poverty. How can they entice any sane nation when these were the images that showed how they treated their own citizens?

Saturday, September 27, 2008

I was channel hopping this morning and came across the Obama v McCain presidential debate, as it happens It was just when they started debating the "Iran Threat" question. I must say I was disappointed with both sides. McCain was struggling to pronounce Ahmadinejad and both sides referred to the Revolutionary Guards as the 'Republican Guards'! I hope they don't get Iran and Iraq mixed up, as Chris Davies MEP, the Leader of the British Liberal Democrat MEPs did once in response to our letter at the time:http://azarmehr.blogspot.com/2005/11/leader-of-lib-dem-meps-supports.html

Neither side had any detailed practical plan on what the US policy should be with regards to the Islamic Republic. My own view is, its best if the US just stays out of it, whenever the US gets involved it makes things worse.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

I have been really busy at work lately and today, I was almost collapsing when I left work, but there was no way I would have missed Dame Ann Leslie's invitation to the celebration party of the publication of her new book, Killing My Own Snakes, at the Reform Club in London's Pall Mall.

Ann Leslie, is the first Western journalist, I know of, who wrote about the 1988 massacre of Iranian political prisoners. Unlike some journalists and think tank academics who are sucked in by the false official pleasantries when they go to Iran, Ann Leslie, being a journalist of stubborn and steely substance, gave her official Islamic Republic chaperons the slip and actually went to the Khavaran cemetery, one of the mass graves of thousands of Iranian political prisoners who were hurriedly buried there during the terrible months of August/September 1988. I don't know any other Western journalists who have managed to visit the Khavaran cemetery.There is so much more I can write about the impressive qualities of Dame Ann Leslie, but may be in the future, after I have read her book.

It was actually quite overwhelming to see so many media celebrities all in one room. Meeting Richard Littlejohn was a pleasant surprise. Whenever I read his column or watch him on TV, I always say to myself, that man is saying exactly what I think. I remember watching with much delight how he demolished the snotty Polly Toynbee on Question Time by standing up for the common man against the out of touch intellectuals who want the best for themselves but not for the rest.

And some times, you meet someone and immediately you feel their heart of gold, you notice care and kindness just radiate from them. That person tonight was the news presenter, Mishal Husain. So easy to talk to and so down to earth. It was a real honour to have talked to her tonight.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, took part in Tehran's Friday prayer sermon yesterday and refuted any suggestions that Iran is a friend of the Israeli people. Referring to the statement made by Ahmadinejad's deputy, Rahim Moshayi, that ''We are friends with all the people of the world, even the people of America and Israel'', Khamenei asked the faithful during the Friday prayer sermon, 'How can we be friends with the people of Israel? Are these not the same people who have expropriated the Palestinian lands? Are these people not the very extras of the Zionist regime? To make such suggestions is wrong and illogical'

At the same time Khamenei addressed the ongoing attacks made by others against Moshayi, and without naming names, he said 'a wrong statement has been inadvertently made and we should end the matter here and not keep going on about it and make problems. Being friends with the people of Israel is not the official position of the Islamic Republic nor that of the government of the Islamic Republic. So the problem is dealt with and over'

Despite some recent suggestions by "Iran experts", it seems Ahmadi-nejad and his government still have the firm backing of the Supreme Leader.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Kate Clark's special program broadcast on BBC Newsnight showed Taliban commanders claiming they receive weapons from the Islamic Republic. As usual however, the official reaction by the UK government is cautious and conciliatory towards the Islamic Republic. UK official wording in reaction to the claim point to 'elements within the Iranian state', but it is not clear who these 'elements' are and why it is by 'elements' and why the Iranian state as a whole can not be held accountable?!

Imagine during the cold war, when the Russian missiles were placed on Cuban soil, the official US reaction was, 'It appears elements within the Soviet state have given missiles to the Cubans'!Or when the Libyans were supplying arms to the IRA, the official reaction was 'Elements within the Libyan state' supplied arms to the IRA. Someone somewhere would immediately ask well, who are these 'elements'?What does 'elements within state' mean and who exactly is the Iranian state? It seems despite all the research by all those academics, think tanks, Iran experts and other advisers, no one in the British government has a clue as to who or what the Iranian state is or may be, ambiguous mambo jumbo like 'elements within the Iranian state' have to be used to avoid other 'elements' - the good cops presumably - within the Islamic Republic state from being offended.

So as a layman who has followed Iran related news for the last 28 years on a daily basis, let me say who ordinary Iranians like me view as the major decision making bodies of the Iranian state. No major security policy such as arming the Taliban or the insurgents in Iraq would be made without the approval or consultations with these bodies: Supreme Leader, his advisers and his son Mojtaba, the Revolutionary Guards top commanders, National Security Council, Expediency Council and the Guardian Council. This collectively is the Islamic Republic establishment which runs the show. Forget the Majlis, the Assembly of Experts, different political factions etc, even the president.

So which 'elements' specifically are the British referring to and why can they not be named?I think ordinary Iranians would find it difficult to believe that one of these bodies has acted alone without the knowledge of the other bodies in sending weapons to the Taliban, even though theThe British ambassador in Kabul, Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, made a point of emphasising 'not necessarily with the knowledge of all other agencies of the Iranian state', when he said:"We've seen a limited supply of weapons by a group within the Iranian state, not necessarily with the knowledge of all other agencies of the Iranian state, sending some very dangerous weapons to the Taleban in the south.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Who would have thought that one day Robert Mugabe would sit down with his rivals and talk about power sharing? The 84-year-old strongman who had all the instruments of power in his hands and ruled Zimbabwe with a minority of the population as his cronies and henchmen, finally had to share power. There was no military invasion, the opposition did not overwhelm the security forces, it was international pressure that finally spelled out the dawn of a new era.

Just like apartheid in South Africa crumbled as a result of international pressure, Mugabe too had to climb down. International pressure does work and it does make dictators to concede, so long as it is focused, collective, effective and backed up by the media.

In a meeting with East Azarbijan deputies, Kordan claimed on the day he received his vote of confidence from the Islamic Assembly, 'The Majlis was filled with light and I witnessed God's light in the assembly on that day' . Kordan also went on to say that he asked for help from the prophet's daughter, Fatimeh, and she was with him all the time during the vote of confidence session.

Apart from his fake PHD from Oxford, another document has been produced which shows Kordan was arrested in 1978 after he was accused of seducing a girl with false marriage promise and he was jailed for more than two months until he was released after the revolution. I wonder if Fatimeh was with him on that day too?

I feel sorry for the Islamic Republic apologists, it must be getting harder and harder for them to portray an acceptable image of the clerical regime in Iran, and for those who advocate negotiation with this mob, imagine sitting at a negotiating table with someone like Kordan!!

Monday, September 08, 2008

Last Friday's sermon in Tehran was read by Ayatollah Jannati, who is also a member of the powerful Guardian Council, probably the most powerful body in Iran. Jannati is a pillar of the establishment and has been in the Guardian Council ever since day one of the revolution, if I remember correctly.

Jannati admonished anyone who criticised Ahmadinejad's government and said the Supreme Leader has banned any destructive attempt at the government. 'It is the holy month of Ramadan too, so hold back your tongues and pens and don't do anything against God's desires'

During the sermon, Jannati warned the faithful that the day to day problems will get worse but the public must be patient, 'for soon the Islamic Republic will posess a power so great that no one will be tempted to attack it.'

Sunday, September 07, 2008

This is not a detailed biography with ins and outs of Ahmadi-nejad's entire personal life story up to now, if you want to read a biography of Ahmadi-nejad you may have to wait until something like that is written some time in the future. However, if you want to be updated with a factual account of what is going on in Iran now, how the population are manipulated and who runs the Islamic Republic, reading this book is a must!

It is one of the best explanations I have read in English on what Islamic Republic elections are about and those in the West who are under some illusion that the Islamic Republic is a 'flourishing' democracy or a 'shining beacon' in the region, should study this book well. Kasra Naji explains how the high level meetings determine the election results before hand, even after all the candidates have been filtered through by the Guardian Council.The mysterious 6 million - and still growing in numbers - unexpired birth certificates of the deceased and how they are used to manipulate the outcome in important elections, the instructions to the baseej militia on which candidate is the favourite and what they should do to ensure the favourite wins. How all this vote manipulation ensures that a candidate scoring last in the opinion polls with only 2.8 percent of the vote, can suddenly take most of the votes and become the 'most popular president'! How the IRGC commanders and other bodies even at times, unwittingly acknowledge the role of the Baseej and the Revolutionary Guards in the election results! and yet some "Iran experts" suggest we should take democracy go its path and wait for Iranians to vote for a "reformist" president in the next elections :)

Most Iran news followers may by now know about Ahmadi-nejad's dellusions about representing the Shiite Messiah and his messianic mentors, but perhaps it may be unknown to them the role of philosophers like Ahmad Fardid, a disciple of Nazi linked Martin Heidegger, who have also influenced Ahmadi-nejad's thinking.Naji presents hard facts to the appeasers and those who think negotiating with the hardliners may bring fruits by giving numerous examples of the outcomes of such moves in the past. Like when Madeleine Albright officially apologised on behalf of the US for its role in the 1952 coup, to the very mullahs who took part in the downfall of Mossadegh, and how such apologetic gestures only resulted in her Islamic Republic counterpart wanting to sue the US now that they had admitted to their role :)) or how Islamic vigilantes attacked a bus full of US academics, keen to open a dialogue with the Islamic Republic, with sticks and stones :))

The tragedy of Ahmadi-nejad's mismanagement of Iran's economy and how all the petro-dollar wealth is wasted and misspent by a president who despises economics and economists, is also explained very clearly by Naji. I wish Naji would also have said how this is very much in line with Ayatollah Khomeini's infamous statement that 'economics belongs to the donkeys'.

And for myself who am not a nuclear expert and have not had time to follow the nuclear issue of the Islamic Republic in much detail, Naji's chapter on Iran's Nuclear Quest was very useful too.

Naji after all is not an exiled opposition, he has worked as a journalist in Iran for many years and is also the husband of BBC's former correspondent in Tehran, Frances Harrison, therefore he has been in an excellent position to understand the complexity and contradictions of the Islamic Republic and who runs Iran today beyond what is presented by the cleric's fancy shop windows to the outside world.

I definitely recommend reading the book to all who want to be updated on Iran.

Shortly after I read Kasra Naji's book, I came across a clip of him with Jon Snow in the frontline club. See:http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1381682699&channel=301939273

Watch how the pompous ex-Trot, Jon Snow, a son of a clergyman himself and a university drop out and a beneficiary of nepotism in journalism, tries to sound all knowing but gets some very basic news facts wrong. For example he says Ahmadi-nejad was the only non cleric candidate, Naji reminds him that was not the case. At another point, Jon Snow claims the root of the problem is that the US has never accepted the Islamic Revolution as a fact and come to terms with it, then he goes on about the Europeans and the British who in contrast have come to terms with the Islamic revolution and as he rants on, he realises himself that also hasn't got anyone anywhere!

Most ridiculous Snow statement however is his suggestion that the US should carpet bomb Iran with laptops to overthrow the Iranian government! Hmm, what about the slow speed of the internet, the huge cost, the filtering of the sites etc. all mentioned in Naji's book. Watching the clip I wondered at times if Snow had even read Naji's book?!

Thursday, September 04, 2008

At last, common sense has prevailed and Arash was released, without bail, from the detention centre this evening, pending his appeal hearing for asylum. I am optimistic that his new lawyer will do a better job than his previous one and present all the evidence the way it should be.

I want all those who helped, to rejoice at the news of Arash's release from the detention centre but at the same time lets not get complacent until all is resolved.

Arash asked me to thank all those who helped publicise his plight and hopes to thank you all in person soon. He also asked me to write on his behalf that 'Our friendships should be stronger than our political inclinations'.

Children of Cyrus! United we will be strong! Apathy, envy and infighting will destroy us and bring us humiliation. We did not have to become refugees and be locked up in detention centres before and we will not have to in the near future either. These dark times will come to pass and the era of the turban heads will be but a temporary glitch in the history of our country.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Last Monday I made an appointment with the Longstanton detention centre, outside Cambridge, to see Arash Mohajeri-nejad. I was told I could not take any food, drink or any camera devices. I asked Arash what he wanted me to bring and he asked for a book to read and a CD with Iranian patriotic songs to keep up his spirit. I got him the CD he wanted and a hefty book on the history of Iran before Islam.

I don't know why, but on my way to the detention centre, I imagined the security guards to be something like the illiterate Homeland Security officers I have come across in Dulles airport, Washington. I kept repeating to myself on the way to Longstanton, 'I must not lose my cool and come to blows with them'. In fact I was very wrong, the guards at the detention centre are ever so polite and respectful, not just with me but with all the visitors and the detainees too. They asked me for a photo ID and my visit number at the gates, then a quick search before they drove me up this long drive in their vehicle. The detention centre was an old RAF barracks, and I think the visiting place must have been a part of the canteen before. I waited for Arash. All detainees wear a light coloured vest, so that they are distinguished from the visitors and not swap places and escape I suppose.Arash looked tired but he managed a smile when he saw me, we shook hands and he thanked me for the book and the CD. I asked him how he was treated and he said he got on well with the guards and how kind and considerate they were in treating all the detainees. I spent the first 10 - 15 minutes on some friendly banter and some shared memories just to cheer him up first. When I thought the time was right I asked him about what had happened.

'You know I have been waiting for my asylum application for the last five years. The unreasonable reasons why the Home Office rejected my first application and how my lawyer messed up lodging my appeal in time and failed to submit all the evidence I had given him. Not having a status and being a non-entity for all these years was eating me up. They say one's twenties are the best years of one's life. For me it has been a living hell. I made a rash decision and decided to go along to the US embassy, I thought they would be more sympathetic if I applied for a visa there. After all, my brother is in US and I thought because of his high profile, they would know about him. I explained to the visa officer that I had been active against the Iranian regime before I fled Iran and that I have been active here in the UK too, but it all seemed to go in one ear and come out of the other, he just asked me what my legal status in UK was and I told him. Next he told me to wait while he sorted out some paper work. For a moment I thought this was the end of my hell. When he came back, they escorted me to a certain exit, and outside, the UK authorities were waiting for me and handcuffed me as they identified me with the photo they had.'I listened with disbelief, and clenched my fists in rage. I had to ask him again 'So the US embassy shopped you to the UK authorities?''YES' He confirmed again.'Are you 100% sure?' I asked him again.'Potkin, when I came out of the embassy exit, the UK police were waiting outside with a faxed copy of my photo. It was the same photo I had given the US embassy for my application and I did not used that picture anywhere else' Arash told me with absolute confidence.

'Those stupid small minded no good bureaucrats, he probably didnt even know where Iran was' I said with utter disgust. I kind of imagined how Kavoussifar was handed over by the US embassy in Abu Dhabi to the Islamic Republic, only to be publicly hanged once he was back in the Islamic Republic.'Sounds a bit like what happened to Kavoussifar in Abu Dhabi' I said to Arash.'I promise you, if I am to be hanged, just like Kavoussifar, I will show no fear and smile just like Kavoussifar did with the rope round his neck'. This time, I think Arash was trying to raise my spirits.

'Arash, why on earth did you not discuss this with me?' I asked him holding my head in my hands.'I thought in the worst scenario they would reject my application, not shop me to the UK authorities to arrest me and then deport me back to the mullahs. The US is against the mullahs Potkin, no?'I shook my head and raised my eyebrows with disbelief. Arash is a great kid but obviously naive at times.

It has taken me a week to ponder whether I should write about this. I have asked for advise from those whose judgement I trust. My initial reluctance was because I thought this would demoralise further the Iranian Diaspora from getting involved in Iran related politics. I thought the message to them would be, you have the might of the Islamic Republic against you as well as that of America and UK, therefore you don't have a chance, just get on with your lives and don't get involved. This is in fact what we hear from those who don't get involved, they think they don't have a chance and the Americans and the UK want to maintain this regime. If I revealed the US embassy shopped Arash, it would confirm their suspicions.

At the end and after a week of much consultation, my English friend, Simon, convinced me with some powerful arguments which were as follows:

1 . What they did to Arash they may do to someone else. If these things are not publicly challenged then they dont get changed. Other dissidents in London or elsewhere may make the same mistake with the same consequences. Simply because they do not know what the embassy is likely to do because it is not publicised - the other case you talked about [Kavoussifar] was where somebody had killed a corrupt judge - they will think if they are a peaceful dissident and not involved in violence they wouldnt get the same treatment. Some may even be deported because of this misconception that the US is on their side. The least you should expect from the US embassy is that they do not call the authorities on them if they do not want to help them.

2. What the US embassy did seems to me this. Someone looks up something in a rule book and then follows it. That simple, that brutal. Now does Bush personally know what is in the rule book? Or McCain? (still less likely - I would have thought he would be very annoyed about this) Even Condoleeza Rice might not know - at least that's what she would say if publicly challenged. Do not make the mistake of thinking that because this is done the whole administration the whole political system the whole country is against you. This is negative thinking.

3. I don't see how it would really demoralise the opposition unless it is presented in a very negative way (blaming the whole country/administration etc). The whole world is not against you. Only people with vested interests, people on the regime's gravy train and jobsworth types at embassies and immigration departments and some hypocrite politicians. In reality a very few people who run like rabbits when they are exposed for what they are. That's all. You must stay positive.

So there you go! It was some small minded embassy bureaucrat who had no idea where Iran was or what was happening in Iran that looked up a rule book and shopped an Iranian pro-democracy activist to be deported back to the Islamic Republic! I can't be any more positive than that after a week!

"And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you. The United States will not ignore your oppression, or excuse your oppressors. When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you."George Bush State of the Union Address in 2005.

What bullshit and was there more to this speech that we did not hear, perhaps "When you stand for your own liberty, we will tell our embassies to deport you back to Iran"??

Monday, September 01, 2008

It made my blood boil watching the Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, Undercover Mosque, tonight. To think that secular pro-democracy activists, like Arash, who stood up to theocracy in Iran are locked up in Britain's detention centres waiting for deportation, while Saudi sponsored preachers of hate like Um-Saleem and others, shown in the documentary, are free to enter this country and spread their gospel of hate and destruction is beyond the comprehension of any sane person.

I am tired now, but watch this space tomorrow when I reveal how the US embassy in London shopped Arash to the UK immigration authorities.

About Me

Follow Me on Twitter @potkazar
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Last time I was in Iran, was during the Islamic "cultural revolution". I hated what was taking place in front of my eyes.
Illiterate gangs of thugs attacking students and academics and telling them how a university must be run! Book stalls being attacked, with books torn up and burned.
I knew then that I had to do something to get rid of this scourge of clerics who had seized power in Iran.
My main objective in life is to help establish a secular democracy in Iran.
I believe the best way forward for Iran to be based on four pillars of Democracy, Secularism, Nationalism and Meritocracy.
Most countries that have adopted these principles have been prosperous, why shouldn't our people be one of them?